Railway-rail joint.



No. 741,817. PATENTED OUT. 20, 1903.

J. G. MQMIOHAEL. RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

, APPLICATION FILED'DEO. 17. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

Iatented October 20, 1903.

PATENT- Curios.

JAMES c. McM oI IAnL; on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAI LWAY- RAIL JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 741,817, dated October 20, 1903. Application filed December 17, 1902. Serial No. 135.490. (No model.)

To all whom it Iii/cry concern.-

Be it known that I, J AMES G. MCMICHAEL, of Chicago, in the county ofOook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Railway-Rail Joints; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, ref erence being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railway-rail joints.

In building railways, particularly streetrailways, it is now a usual expedient to embed the bases of the rails and joints in concrete or the like and surface the railway over such concrete bedding. In some instances ties are employed and the rail spiked thereto, the

whole being embedded in concrete; but often no ties whatever are used and the concrete alone is depended upon to retain the rails in proper position. One difficulty which has been experienced in the operation of roads constructed in accordance with this principle is that the rails tend to creep longitudinally and lift vertically at their ends when under strain. In the absence of provision to overcome this tendency the rails will in course of time grind away the concrete, so as to give them considerable play and allow them to lift and move from their proper positions as cars pass over them.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a rail-joint which will securely hold the rails united thereby in proper position, retaining them against longitudinal, lateral, or vertical movement.

A further object of my invention is to generally improve and strengthen the construction of rail-joints of the character described.

With a view to attaining these and other objects, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, my invention consists in the structural features and the arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a supported rail constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 illustrates a suspended joint also embodying features of my invention. Fig. 3 is an end elevat-ion of the rail-joint illustrated in Fig. 1,

showing a rail in section. Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section taken-on line 4 1 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 and 2 indicate as a whole complementary joint members generally similar in construction and adapted to fit on opposite sides of two adjoining rails at the point of juncture thereof. Each of said members comprises in its construction a generally vertical fish-plate portion 3, adapted to fit snugly between the head of the rail and the base thereof, a folded baseembracing portion 4, having a fiat bottom plate 5, forming the rail-seat and extending beneath the rail to approximately the center thereof throughout the entire length of the joint,and reinforcing retaining-pockets,which will be hereinafter more fully described, disposed below the rail-seat and all formed in an integral structure. Bolt-holes 6 are provided in the fish-plate 3, registering with corresponding holes in the rails r to receive the usual bolts 7. Spike notches or apertures 8 may also be provided in the folded portions 4 of the joint for the reception of spikes to be employed only when the rails are laid on ties or stringers.

Each of the joint members is provided with one or more retaining devices in the form of an integral pocket structure, (indicated generally by 9.) Each of said pockets preferably comprises in its construction a side wall 10, vertically depending from the edge of the plate 5 of the joint adjacent the middle of the rail and relatively short with reference to the length of said plate, a bottom 11, disposed at right angles to said wall 10 and projecting toward the outer edge of the joint, and end walls 12 12, joining the walls 5, 10, and 11.

13 13 indicate reinforcingabutments formed at the juncture of the walls 12 and base-plate 5 of the pocket structure and extending transversely of the entire joint member. Each of said abutments is perforated, as indicated at 14, for the reception of the bolts 15, which when the parts are assembled extend transversely beneath the rail and unite the joint members below the level of the base thereof.

These abutments further serve to give great strength to the joint. They may, however,

be omitted when it is desirable to use only the bolts 7 without the additional bolts 13 below the rail.

16 indicates a centrally-disposed reinforcing-rib arranged transversely of the pocket 9 and connecting the walls 5, 10, and 11 thereof. When the joint employed is of the supported type illustrated in Fig. 1, this web is disposed directly beneath the point of adjustment of the two rails. It is apparent,however, that, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, my invention might be applied to a joint ofeither the supported or the suspended type.

Many advantages of the construction set forth will be apparent. Not only is the railjoint greatly strengthened by the reinforcing formation and the employment of the bolts and their abutments, but the pockets 9 serve to positively hold the rails in their proper position. When the rails are laid, the concrete fills in the pockets 9, embedding the bottom walls 11 thereof, and so prevents the possibility of the rail lifting without moving the concrete bodily or breaking it away. The walls 10, extending longitudinally of the joint, prevent the possibility of lateral shifting, while the relatively extended end walls 12, presenting a vertical face transversely of the joint, obviate the tendency of the rail and joint to creep longitudinally.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a railway-rail joint, the combination with a joint member of a retaining means for holding said member against displacement when embedded, said means constituting a pocket open at its outer side and comprising a vertical wall transverse to the axis of the rail and a bottom wall projecting horizontally from the lower edge of the vertical wall.

2. In a railway-rail joint, a joint member adapted to be secured to the rail and a pocket structure, integral therewith, adapted to be embedded, said pocket comprising a vertical, longitudinal wall arranged below the vertical wall, and a horizontal bottom wall extending outwardly therefrom, and a transverse vertical Wall connecting said longitudinal and horizontal walls.

3. In a railway-rail joint, a joint member having a vertical fish plate portion, a folded portion adapted to embrace one side of the rail-base, and a retaining-pocket formed integral with said joint member and adapted to be embedded in the rail-supporting material, said pocket having an unclosed side opening outwardly from the longitudinal median line of the joint.

4. Ina railway-rail joint, a pair of complementary members each comprising a vertical fish-plate portion, a folded portion adapted to embrace the base of the rail and comprising a flat base-plate, 5, extending approximately to the middle of the rail, a pocket having a side Wall, 10, extending vertically downward from the inner edge of the plate 5, a bottom wall 11 extending horizontally outward from the lower extremity of the wall 10, and end walls '12 uniting the walls 10 and 11 and the base-plate 5.

5. In a suspended joint for embedded rails, a joint member having a pocket disposed centrally of its length and depending below the level of the rail-base said pocket opening outwardly from the median longitudinal plane of the joint, and a reinforcing-web arranged centrally within said pocket beneath the point of abutment of the adjoining rails.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES G.,MOMICHAEL.

In presence of- FOREE BAIN, MARY F. ALLEN. 

